# What is your favorite fight scene? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522 "2007-05-17T22:38:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/61 "2007-05-18T14:16:06Z")
James Caans asskicking of his brother in law in Godfather. It was a little one sided though. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/62 "2007-05-18T14:45:58Z")
Here are some of my favorites. Some have already been mentioned. Jet Li vs. Billy Chow (as General Fujita) in [**Fist of Legend**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110200/). (Lots of great fights in this movie). Jackie Chan vs. Benny “The Jet” Urquidez at the end of [**Wheels on Meals**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087578/). Michelle Yeoh (and Cynthia Rothrock) vs. multiples at the end of \*\*[Yes, Madam!\*\*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093229/). This is a \*great \* fight scene. Lots of people beng thrown through glass, down stairs, etc. Michelle Yeoh has several really good fight scenes in [**Royal Warriors**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091229/). The best, IMO is the final fight. I can’t see how she didn’t end up in the hospital after filming that one. She gets thrown around a lot. Pretty brutal. On the “I can’t believe they did that” front, the otherwise forgettable film [\*\*Escape From Brothel \*\*](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0104457/) has a fight that involves a completely naked [Sophia Crawford](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0186962/). So, if you want to see her take a kung-fu kick to the muff, this one’s for you. For inventiveness and wire-fu, the contest fight in [**Fong Sai Yuk**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106936/). (Part of it takes place on the heads of the bystanding crowd!) [\*\*Iron Monkey \*\*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108148/) is full of wuxia-style fighting, if you like wire-fu. The flaming pole fight is especially good. Another “fun” fight scene is Michelle Yeoh’s tofu shop scene in [**Wing Chun**](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1069659215). From my review [scroll down on the linked page]: > [@](#): > > one of the local bandits has come to challenge Wing Chun in her place of business (a tofu store). No problem, says Wing Chun. All you have to do is smash this pan of tofu sitting on the table and you will be the winner. > > How hard could that be, right? Well, it’s damn nigh impossible when what prevents you from putting your fist into a plate of tofu is Michelle Yeoh and all her skills. An amazingly choreographed scene that brings big smiles all around. Michelle’s facial expressions are priceless as she goads the hapless bandit into just “one more try” before slamming him back to the ground yet again. There are several other very entertaining fight scenes in this movie also. They are not brutal death-matches, but rather spin-through-the-air, prop-using, wonderfully choreographed, skilled ballets. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/63 "2007-05-18T14:52:06Z")
Man, I was gonna mention one from my childhood, but now I can’t find any trace of it on IMDB, and must be misremembering it. I was gonna say John Wayne and Sidney Portier in **The Bounty Hunters**. But I can’t find any movie by that name or in either actor’s filmography. In any event, there was a cowboy/bounty hunter, and an (escaped?) slave in the old west. Tho they hate each other, they end up having to work together to confront bad guys and indians. I remember one of them had a horse that stopped on a dime throwing its rider when someone whistled. Anyways, I remember there being a great fistfight between the two protagonists, with them falling into a river and such. As far as westerns, I remember it as one of the best. Now if only I could remember what the movie was… ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/64 "2007-05-18T15:51:35Z")
Short: Butch vs. Harvey in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Long: Sword fight between Andre and the Marquis de Maine in “Scaramouche.” Sexy: Li Mu Bai vs Jen (in the bamboo) in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/65 "2007-05-18T15:58:55Z")
Having seen some pretty nasty real life fights and more than a few bloody boxing matches on TV, the ones already mentioned seem to cover the spectrum of “pretty fights” and “graceful fights” about as well as one could expect. But because of its brutality, ugliness and real-life desperation, in which all semblaces of glamor are removed to show the ultimate goal of most fights, I submit the one between Dan Dority and Hearst’s man Turner in the _Deadwood_ episode [29 A Two-Headed Beast](http://www.hbo.com/deadwood/episode/season3/episode29.shtml) > [@](#): > > Al, unable to figure the angle, sends Dority off to fight. Dority prepares, greasing himself up. Burns offers to shoot Turner if Dan signals something is going wrong, but Dority won’t have it. As Turner prepares, Hearst and Turner recollect past fights, Hearst insinuating he should make the fight an object lesson for everyone watching. > > Dority and Turner charge towards each other and a long and brutal battle ensues in the thoroughfare while Al and Hearst watch from their lookouts. It appears Dan is finished but he manages to gouge Turner’s eye and rises, victorious, to finish him off. I also remember some fights involving Brando in _On The Waterfront_ and _The Chase_ that were pretty damn ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/66 "2007-05-18T16:34:48Z")
[QUOTE=blondebear] (Really more because of the spectacular scenery, but…) The first thing that comes to mind is the opening of _Silverado_. [/QUOTE] From the same movie: Mal vs. Sheriff Langston’s posse. “Today, my jurisdiction ends here. Pick up my hat.” ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/67 "2007-05-18T16:49:29Z")
I’ll second the fight scene in \*\*The Quite Man \*\* and add the barroom fight in **Shane.** ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/68 "2007-05-18T17:48:38Z")
Mal vs. The Operative in two different fights in _Serenity._ The final shoot-out between The Wild Bunch and Mapache’s goons in _The Wild Bunch_. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/69 "2007-05-18T17:53:34Z")
[QUOTE=ExTank] Mal vs. The Operative in two different fights in _Serenity._ [/QUOTE] Or maybe Mal vs the torturer from “War Stories”: \*\*Zoe: \*\* _This is something the captain has to do for himself._ **Mal:** _No! No, it’s not!_ **Zoe:** _Oh._ Blam! ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/70 "2007-05-18T20:16:06Z")
If TV cartoons count, cripple fight is my fav. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/71 "2007-05-18T20:33:17Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale] Man, I was gonna mention one from my childhood, but now I can’t find any trace of it on IMDB, and must be misremembering it. I was gonna say John Wayne and Sidney Portier in **The Bounty Hunters**. But I can’t find any movie by that name or in either actor’s filmography. In any event, there was a cowboy/bounty hunter, and an (escaped?) slave in the old west. Tho they hate each other, they end up having to work together to confront bad guys and indians. I remember one of them had a horse that stopped on a dime throwing its rider when someone whistled. Anyways, I remember there being a great fistfight between the two protagonists, with them falling into a river and such. As far as westerns, I remember it as one of the best. Now if only I could remember what the movie was… [/QUOTE] That sounds like the fistfight between Ossie Davis and Burt Lancaster in _The Scalphunters_. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/72 "2007-05-18T20:53:20Z")
Some of my favorites have been mentioned already. Obi-Was vs. Darth Maul in **Phantom Menace** was absolutely incredible. As I’ve said before: right after Maul kills Qui-Gon, he waits for the energy wall to open up so he can engage Obi-Wan. When Obi-Wan enters the room and they clash, there is about seven seconds of intense swordplay, and those seven seconds make the entire movie. That little snippet is everything lightsaber combat should be: lightning-fast opponents, with precognitive ability, fighting with weightless blades. It’s magnificent. I found it on YouTube [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3FA3vAE1AY), no telling if it’ll last. And oh yes, **Equilibrium**. Mediocre film, but wasn’t them fight scenes great. Best of all was at the very end: two people schooled in gunkata, shooting at one another from a range of inches, not even flinching. Makes you want to spray gunfire around with pure glee. Jackie Chan always has good ones. I have a soft spot for the rooftop fight in **Who Am I?**. I love the little things, like the second opponent taking off his jacket when Jackie wraps the first opponent up in his own coat, and later taking off his tie when the first opponent again is whupped up on as Jackie grabs his tie and beats the snot out of him. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/73 "2007-05-18T21:00:36Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] That sounds like the fistfight between Ossie Davis and Burt Lancaster in _The Scalphunters_. [/QUOTE] Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was going nuts trying to remember that one. Good fight - and decent movie, as I recall. May need to rent it. (Undoubtedly will be disappointed! Seems few fondly remembered movies live up to my memories…) ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/74 "2007-05-18T21:06:26Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale] Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was going nuts trying to remember that one. Good fight - and decent movie, as I recall. May need to rent it. (Undoubtedly will be disappointed! Seems few fondly remembered movies live up to my memories…) [/QUOTE] I saw _The Scalphunters_ not long ago, and I found it just as enjoyable as it was the first time around. I’m a big fan of Burt Lancaster, and this is prime Burt. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/75 "2007-05-18T21:15:44Z")
[The best fight scene ever.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXB1JCQ6BxE) “We’ll keep an eye out for you, Stingray!” “Yeah! See ya!” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/76 "2007-05-18T21:16:26Z")
Another one - I REALLY enjoyed the scene where River destroyed the Reavers in Serenity. And there were some great fight scenes in BTVS. In particular, I remember the one where she used various weapons against the aliens in that one season finale/premiere when she was waitning tables, where the aliens took homeless kids and worked them until they were old… And another one between Buffy and Faith. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/77 "2007-05-18T21:23:29Z")
Pretty much anything from _Drunken Master II_ (released in the US as _The Legend of Drunken Master_) would get my vote. For example, the [final fight scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEPH7VJlLSU), in which Jackie drinks some kind of industrial solvent to get his alcoholic superpowers going (think “Popeye and spinach”), then whips a bunch of ass. I also liked the fight under the train early in the movie. And of course, _They Live_. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/78 "2007-05-18T21:25:47Z")
This is pretty cool: a [Top Ten Fight Scenes](http://www.doubleviking.com/top-10-mano-a-mano-fight-scenes-of-all-time-2910-p.html) list, complete with video clips. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/79 "2007-05-18T21:29:40Z")
The Incredibles vs the Omni-Droid? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2007, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522/80 "2007-05-18T21:40:57Z")
I was half tempted to start another thread about the “Most realistic fight scene”, but since this one is already combined I am going to put it here. The barroom fight scene that pits Humpry Bogart’s and Tim Holts characters against a crooked employer. At the end of the scene one character (Tim Holt’s?) is holding on to one leg flailing away exhausted while the other two fight very unglamoursly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-fight-scene/404522.md?page=5)